Nivedita Joshi Saraf (née Joshi; born 11 April 1963) is an Indian film, television and theatre actress. She made her film debut as a child in the 1977 Hindi film Apnapan. and started her career in lead roles as a teen-adult in 1984, when she was cast in the Marathi film Navri Mile Navryala. She quickly established herself as one of the prominent and leading female stars of Marathi cinema, with the roles in Gharcha Bhedi (1984), Dhoom Dhadaka (1985), De Danadan (1987), Thartharat (1989) and Majha Chakula (1994) with Mahesh Kothare, Kiss Bai Kiss (1988), Gholat Ghol (1988), Pheka Pheki (1989), De Dhadak Be Dhadak (1989) with Laxmikant Berde, Balache Baap Brahmachari (1989), Tuzhi Mazhi Jamli Jodi (1990), Aamchyasarkhe Aamhich (1990), Tu Sukhakarta (1993), Dhamaal Jodi (1995) with Ashok Saraf, and Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi (1988) with Siddharth Ray.

She left the film industry at the peak of her career, as she married Ashok Saraf in 1990. Following this, she took a sabbatical break from acting in films. She made her comeback in 2010 through Television shows.

Joshi was born on 11 April 1963 in a family of actors.^[1] Her father Gajanan Joshi acted in many Marathi films of early 1970s. Her mother was a stage actress Vimal Joshi from the same era.^[2]

Joshi began her acting career on the stage at the age of 10. She made her film debut as a child actor in J. Om Prakash's Hindi drama film Apnapan, where she played the role of a beggar alongside Sudhir Dalvi. The song Aadmi Musafir Hai, sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi, was picturised on them.^[3] Subsequently, she featured in a few more Hindi films as a child actor, where she was credited as Baby Nivedita Joshi.

In 1984, Joshi landed her first leading role in the Marathi family drama film Navri Mile Navryala, directed by Sachin Pilgaonkar, where she acted for the first time alongside her future husband Ashok Saraf as a sister. The film was a huge commercial success.^[4] The same year, she also acted in Gharcha Bhedi.^[5]

In 1985, she was seen in brief roles in the films: Ardhangi, Paisa Yeh Paisa, and Uske Baad. Her leading role of the year was Mahesh Kothare's directorial debut, Dhum Dhadaka. It starred Kothare, Ashok, Laxmikant Berde, and Prema Kiran. The film was a remake of the 1964 Tamil film Kadhalikka Neramillai. After its release, it became a box office hit and was a trendsetter, which brought young audiences to recognise the Marathi style of movie-making.^{[citation needed]}

Next, she played a college going girl in Kashasathi Premasathi (1987), opposite Ajinkya Deo. The song Bhannat Ranwara from the film was a chartbuster.^[6] Her biggest hit of 1987 was Kothare's action comedy De Danadan, which was inspired by the 1980 Hollywood film Super Fuzz.^[7]

In 1988, she once again collaborated with Pilgaonkar for the comedy drama film Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi. Joshi played love interest from Miraj of Shantanu (played by Siddharth Ray), along with an ensemble cast of Pilgaonkar, Ashok, Supriya Pilgaonkar, Berde, Ashwini Bhave, and Priya Arun.^[8] The film was a major box office success for Marathi films in the 1980s and achieved cult classic status among Marathi audiences.^[9] Next, she starred in Marathi romantic dramas Kiss Bai Kiss and Gholat Ghol, both featuring Bhave and Berde, which were hits at the box office. The former was based on love triangle, which was also remade in Hindi as Honeymoon (1992).^[10] Her final film of that year was Mamla Porincha, a remake of the American film 9 to 5 (1980) about a womanising boss who has a bad eye on his female employees, fed up with him, they decide to teach him a lesson.^[11]

In 1989, Joshi played the main lead role of a journalist of the daily newspaper Apradh who falls in love with a CID Inspector (portrayed by Kothare) in his directorial action comedy Thartharat.^[12] The film was huge box-office success of that year.^[13] Her next releases were the comedy dramas Balache Baap Brahmachari,^[14] De Dhadak Be Dhadak^[15] and Pheka Pheki. The lattermost was remade in Hindi as Golmaal Returns (2008).^[16]

In 1990, she played a supporting role in the crime drama Aamchyasarkhe Aamhich. Next, she starred in the drama film Tuzhi Mazhi Jamli Jodi, which revolves around two girl-friends whose marriage gets fixed at the same time, and one has to go through troubles due to which their friendship is effected.^[17] The next releases were Dhamal Bablya Ganpyachi and Changu Mangu.^[18] All four films featured her husband, Ashok.^[19]

Following these years, she was also part of the Hindi films Narsimha (1991) and King Uncle (1993). After a two-years gap from Marathi films, she starred in Tu Sukhkarta (1993), where she portrayed a woman who has devoted her life to spirituality and intends not to get married.^[20]

In 1994, she played the mother of a young boy who is kidnapped by robbers in Kothare's drama film Majha Chakula. Her performance and the film were critically and commercially successful. This film also marked Joshi and Kothare's fourth and last collaboration together.^[21] Majha Chakula was the last film she shot before her maternity break, but Dhamaal Jodi (1995) was released later.^[22]

Joshi's only appearance during her break was in the 2006 Marathi serial Bandhan, which aired on Zee Marathi. She made her comeback to films after 15 years, with the 2011 film Aata Ga Baya, in which she was seen in a negative role. Her last feature in the film was Deool Band.

Joshi has played Asawari in the Marathi-language serial Aggabai Sasubai on Zee Marathi from 2019 to 2021, a role she reprised in the spin-off Aggabai Sunbai. Currently, she is playing a role in Colors Marathi's Bhagya Dile Tu Mala as Ratnamala Mohite.

She married actor Ashok Saraf in 1990.^[8][23] They have a son named Aniket Saraf who is a chef.^[24]